VSCO Acquires Artifact Uprising To Help Bring More Photography To The Real World

Visual Supply Co., better known as VSCO, has acquired Artifact Uprising, a Denver-based startup focused on bringing photographers’ work from the digital hubs frequented by modern creatives to the real world as tangible books and prints.

In a chat last night, VSCO CEO Joel Flory told TechCrunch that the deal is about helping Artifact Uprising achieve its potential. “As a photographer, there’s nothing quite like holding a print of your photo,” he noted while describing how Artifact Uprising’s offerings will fit into VSCO’s current product line-up, which today focuses on giving photographers tools for editing and sharing photos on their phones and desktops.

Flory says that Artifact Uprising is already doing a fantastic job at providing a product for photographers, but will be able to leverage VSCO’s resources to grow further. That’s why all of Artifact Uprising’s 14 full-time team members will retain their positions post-merger, including founder Jenna Walker, who will stay on as CEO and continue to operate mostly independently.

“Leveraging VSCO’s resources” isn’t just a reference to the $40 million VSCO raised in its Series A round last May, however. “On the engineering side of things, we have our own goals and aspirations in this space. We’re building out the architecture and platform behind that, which will be a shared resource, rolled out piece-by-piece over the course of 2015.”

VSCO will also help Artifact Uprising move beyond North America, which is currently its primary market. VSCO has it the other way around, with 80% of its user base located outside the United States.